1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to customized golf clubs which are configured to best suit a particular golfer. The invention relates more specifically to a golf club hosel interface having an intentionally bendable portion which permits selected variation in lie angle and face angle without requiring a large inventory of differently configured hosels and without increasing the risk of a fracture.
2. PRIOR ART
Relevant prior art appears in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,155 to Wood et al. This patent discloses a hosel construction having a plug member and a neck member. The plug member is secured in the golf club head. The neck member extends integrally from the plug member and receives the shaft. The hosel construction is provided in numerous different configurations to provide different lie and face angles. As shown in column 5, lines 49-60, in order to offer deviations of lie angles and face angles which are in the angular range of only + or xe2x88x921 degree increments, it is necessary to provide nine different hosel constructions. Moreover, as stated in that patent at column 5, lines 44-47, xe2x80x9cOnly the combinations using deviations of 1xc2x0, 0xc2x0 and xe2x88x921xc2x0 are shown. However, additional increments, positive and negative, integer and non-integer, are also contemplated.xe2x80x9d Thus for example, if it were desired to provide hosel constructions permitting xc2xdxc2x0 increments in both angles between xe2x88x921 xc2xdxc2x0 to +1 xc2xdxc2x0, a total of 49 different hosel constructions would be required. If it were desired to provide hosel constructions permitting ⅓xc2x0 increments in both angles between xe2x88x922xc2x0 and +2xc2x0, a total of 169 different hosel constructions would be required. Clearly, it can be highly disadvantageous to require such a large inventory of such prior art devices, particularly when each golf club manufactured to a particular combination of lie and face angle will use one of those devices and force its replacement in the full set. Thus the total number of such hosel constructions that must be kept on hand to accommodate even a modest rate of sales, can become entirely too burdensome to be practical. What is needed therefore, is a hosel construction which can satisfy a large range of angles and increments for both lie and face angle variations, but without requiring a burdensome inventory of such hosel constructions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,528 to Toulon discloses a bendable hosel that is cast as one piece with the clubhead body forming an entire clubhead. The hosel being cast of the same material as the rest of the clubhead makes it undesirable for bending as the hosel is heat-treated or hardened the same as the rest of the clubhead. This is a problem since making the hardness range soft enough to bend the hosel will allow the club face to cave-in when the golf ball is struck. Conversely, making the hardness in a range to prevent face cave-ins makes the hosel brittle and very susceptible to fracturing during bending. The Toulon design hosel immediately adjacent to the head has a circumferential slot or groove about the hosel periphery to facilitate bending the hosel to provide variations in the face angle or lie angle. Unfortunately, a circumferential grooved or slotted hosel is inherently weaker and thus susceptible to fracture while making adjustments or hitting the golf ball. The result can be catastrophic failure permitting the clubhead to separate from the shaft during a swing, which could cause serious injury to the golfer or others in proximity of the golfer.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art by providing a hosel interface device having special mechanical design and properties formulated especially for bending. The hosel interface has a varying wall thickness to focus bending in one concentrated area to allow any desired extent of variation in lie and face angle in virtually an infinite number of increments. However, unlike the prior art, there is no circumferential groove or slot in the hosel to weaken it and increase the risk of fracture that could cause separation of the clubhead from the shaft. The hosel invention herein instead is not part of the original clubhead casting with its associated heat-treating or hardening limitations, but is formulated to be mechanically brazed into the clubhead and exhibit specific properties otherwise unattainable if the hosel is cast in entirety with the clubhead. The hosel interface invention herein employs a bending region along a portion of an otherwise straight hosel interface or coupling between an insertion portion that is brazed into the clubhead and another portion that provides a receptacle for the clubhead end of the shaft.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a golf club having a unique hosel interface with a bendable region configured for entry into the clubhead hosel area interior for permitting lie angle and face angle adjustment for each golfer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hosel interface for customizing golf clubs, but without requiring an inventory of different hosel interfaces for numerous angle ranges and increments in both lie angle and face angle.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bendable hosel interface for customizing golf clubs, but without requiring a circumferentially grooved or slotted hosel which would otherwise reduce the structural integrity of the golf club to an unacceptable degree.
It is yet another object of the invention to be universally applied to any golf club type whether it be a putter, iron, iron wedge, driving iron, driver, fairway wood, trouble wood, or any other type of golf club having an interface between a golf clubhead and shaft.